thrill

thrill someone to death Go to thrill someone

to pieces.

thrill someone to pieces and thrill someone

to death to please or excite someone

very much. (Informal.) John sent f low-

ers to Ann and thrilled her to pieces.

Your wonderful comments thrilled me to

death.

thrilled to pieces Go to thrilled to death.

through and through thoroughly; com-

pletely. I’ve studied this report through

and through trying to find the facts you’ve

mentioned. I was angry through and

through, and I had to sit and recover be-

fore I could talk to anyone.

through hell and high water through all

sorts of severe difficulties. (Use caution

with hell.) I came through hell and high

water to get to this meeting on time. Why

don’t you start on time? You’ll have to

go through hell and high water to accom-

plish your goal, but it’ll be worth it.

through thick and thin through good

times and bad times. We’ve been to-

gether through thick and thin, and we

won’t desert each other now. Over the

years, we went through thick and thin and

enjoyed every minute of it.

throw a fit to become very angry; to put

on a display of anger. (Folksy.) Sally

threw a fit when I showed up without the

things she asked me to buy.  My dad

threw a fit when I got home three hours

late.

throw a party (for someone) to give or hold

a party (for someone). Mary was leav-

ing town, so we threw a party for her.

Fred is having a birthday. Do you know a

place where we could throw a party?

throw caution to the wind to become

very careless. Jane, who is usually cau-

tious, threw caution to the wind and went

windsurfing. I don’t mind taking a lit-

tle chance now and then, but I’m not the

type of person who throws caution to the

wind.

throw down the gauntlet to challenge

(someone) to an argument or to (figu-

rative) combat. When Bob challenged

my conclusions, he threw down the gaunt-

let. I was ready for an argument.

Frowning at Bob is the same as throwing

down the gauntlet. He loves to get into a

fight about something.

throw good money after bad to waste

additional money after wasting money

once. I bought a used car and then had

to spend $300 on repairs. That was throw-

ing good money after bad. The Browns

are always throwing good money after bad.

They bought an acre of land that turned

out to be swamp, and then had to pay to

have it filled in.

throw in the sponge Go to throw in the

towel.

throw in the towel and throw in the

sponge to quit (doing something). (In-

formal.) When John could stand no

more of Mary’s bad temper, he threw in the

towel and left. Don’t give up now! It’s

too soon to throw in the sponge.

throw oneself at the mercy of the court

Go to throw oneself on the mercy of the

court.

throw oneself on the mercy of the court

and throw oneself at the mercy of the

court to plead for mercy from a judge in

a courtroom. Your honor, please believe

me, I didn’t do it on purpose. I throw my-

self on the mercy of the court and beg for

a light sentence. Jane threw herself at

the mercy of the court and hoped for the best

throw one’s hands up in despair to give

up; to raise one’s hands making a sign of

giving up. John threw his hands up in

despair because they wouldn’t let him see

his brother in the hospital. T There was

nothing I could do to help. I threw up my

hands in despair and left.

throw one’s hands up in horror to be

shocked; to raise one’s hands as if one had

been frightened. When Bill heard the

bad news, he threw his hands up in horror.

T I could do no more. I had seen more

than I could stand. I just threw up my

hands in horror and screamed.

throw one’s voice to project one’s voice so

that it seems to be coming from some

other place. The ventriloquist threw his

voice.  Jane can throw her voice, so I

thought she was standing behind me.

throw one’s weight around to attempt to

boss people around; to give orders. (In-

formal.) The district manager came to

our office and tried to throw his weight

around, but no one paid any attention to

him.  Don’t try to throw your weight

around in this office. We know who our

boss is.

throw (some) light on something Go to

shed (some) light on something.

throw someone to confuse someone slightly.

(See also throw someone for a loop.)

You threw me for a minute when you asked

for my identification. I thought you rec-

ognized me. The question the teacher

asked was so hard that it threw me, and I

became very nervous.

throw someone a curve 1. to pitch a curve

ball to someone in baseball.

pitcher threw John a curve, and John

swung wildly against thin air. During

that game, the pitcher threw everyone a

curve at least once. 2. to confuse someone

by doing something unexpected. When

you said “house” you threw me a curve.

The password was supposed to be “home.”

John threw me a curve when we were

making our presentation, and I forgot my

speech.

throw someone for a loop and knock some-

one for a loop to confuse or shock some-

one. (Informal. This is more severe and

upsetting than throw someone a curve or

throw someone.) When Bill heard the

news, it threw him for a loop. The man-

ager knocked Bob for a loop by firing him

on the spot.

throw someone for a loss to cause some-

one to be uncertain or confused. (Often

passive.) The stress of being in front of

so many people threw Ann for a loss. She

forgot her speech. It was a difficult prob-

lem. I was thrown for a loss for an answer.

throw someone off the track 1. to cause one

to lose one’s place in the sequence of

things. The interruption threw me off

the track for a moment, but I soon got

started again with my presentation.

Don’t let little things throw you off the

track. Concentrate on what you’re doing.

2. and throw someone off the trail to

cause someone to lose the trail (when fol-

lowing someone or something). The

raccoon threw us off the track by running

through the creek. The robber threw the

police off the trail by leaving town.

throw someone off the trail Go to throw

someone off the track.

throw someone or something off 1. [with

someone] to confuse someone; to mislead

someone. The interruption threw me

off, and I lost my place in the speech.

Little noises throw me off. Please try to be

quiet. Your comment threw me off. 2.

[with something] to resist or recover from

a disease. It was a bad cold, but I man-

aged to throw it off in a few days. T I can’t

seem to throw off my cold. I’ve had it for

weeks. 3. [with something] to emit or give

off an odor. The small animal threw a

strong odor off. T The f lowers threw off a

heavy perfume.

throw someone out (of something) to force a

person to leave a place or an organiza-

tion. (Also literal.) John behaved so

badly that they threw him out of the party.

I was very loud, but they didn’t throw

me out. They threw Toni out of the club

because she was so unpleasant.

throw someone over to end a romance with

someone. Jane threw Bill over. I think

she met someone she likes better. Bill

was about ready to throw her over, so it’s

just as well.

throw someone’s name around to impress

people by saying you know a famous or

influential person. (Informal.) You

won’t get anywhere around here by throw-

ing the mayor’s name around. When

you get to the meeting, just throw my name

around a bit, and people will pay attention

to you.

throw someone to the wolves to (figura-

tively) sacrifice someone. The press was

demanding an explanation, so the mayor

blamed the mess on John and threw him to

the wolves. I wouldn’t let them throw me

to the wolves! I did nothing wrong, and I

won’t take the blame for their errors.

throw something into the bargain to in-

clude something in a deal. To encour-

age me to buy a new car, the car dealer

threw a free radio into the bargain. If

you purchase three pounds of chocolates,

I’ll throw one pound of salted nuts into the

bargain.

throw (something) up to vomit something.

(Compare this with spit (something) up.)

The meat was bad, and I threw it up.

T I hate to throw up. T Billy threw up his

dinner.

throw something up to someone to mention

a shortcoming to someone repeatedly.

I know I’m thoughtless. Why do you keep

throwing it up to me? Bill was always

throwing Jane’s faults up to her.

throw the baby out with the bath(wa-

ter) to dispose of the good while eagerly

trying to get rid of the bad. In her haste

to talk down the idea containing a few dis-

agreeable points, she has thrown the baby

out with the bathwater. T Hasty action

will result in throwing out the baby with

the bath.

throw the book at someone to charge

someone with, or convict someone of, as

many crimes as is possible. (Slang.) I

made the police officer angry, so he took

me to the station and threw the book at

me. The judge threatened to throw the

book at me if I didn’t stop insulting the po-

lice officer.

thrust and parry to enter into verbal com-

bat [with someone]; to compete actively

[with someone]. (Refers to movements in

the sport of fencing.) I spent the en-

tire afternoon thrusting and parrying with

a committee of so-called experts in the

field of insurance. I do not intend to

stand here and thrust and parry with you

over a simple matter like this. Let’s get

someone else’s opinion.

thumb a ride and hitch a ride to get a

ride from a passing motorist; to make a

sign with one’s thumb that indicates to

passing drivers that one is begging for a

ride. My car broke down on the high-

way, and I had to thumb a ride to get back

to town. Sometimes it’s dangerous to

hitch a ride with a stranger.

carefully. I’ve only thumbed through this

book, but it looks very interesting.

leafed through a magazine while waiting

to see the doctor.

a thumbnail sketch a short or small pic-

ture or description. The manager gave

a thumbnail sketch of her plans. The

student wrote a thumbnail sketch of his

project.

thumbs down on someone or something op-

posed to someone or something. (See

also turn thumbs down (on someone or

something).) Bob is thumbs down on hir-

ing anyone else. I had hoped that she’d

agree with our plan, but she’s thumbs

down on it.

thumbs up on someone or something in favor

of someone or something. (See also turn

thumbs up (on someone or something).)

Bob is thumbs up on hiring Claude. I

never hoped she’d agree with our plan, but

she’s totally thumbs up on it.

thunder thunderstorms; thundershowers.

(Used in weather forecasting.) The

forecast is for breezy conditions tonight,

perhaps with some thunder later in the

evening.  There was a lot of thunder

across the Midwest today, causing f looding

in low-lying areas.

tickle someone pink and tickle someone to

death to please or entertain someone

very much. (Informal.) Bill told a joke

that really tickled us all pink. I know

that these f lowers will tickle her to death.

tickle someone’s fancy to interest someone;

to make someone curious. (See also strike

someone’s fancy.) I have an interesting

problem here that I think will tickle your

fancy. This doesn’t tickle my fancy at all.

This is dull and boring.

tickle someone to death Go to tickle someone

pink.

tickled pink and tickled to death very

much pleased or entertained. (Informal.)

I was tickled to death to have you visit

us.  We were tickled pink when your

f lowers arrived.

tickled to death Go to tickled pink.

tide someone over [for a portion of some-

thing] to last until someone can get some

I don’t get paid until next

Wednesday. Could you lend me thirty dol-

lars to tide me over? Could I borrow

some coffee to tide me over until I can get

to the store tomorrow?

tie into something to connect to something.

I’m trying to get my home computer to

tie in with the big one at the university.

Could I tie into your water line while I’m

waiting for mine to be repaired? What

you just told me ties into John’s version of

the event.

tie someone down to restrict or encumber

someone. (Also literal.) I’d like to go

fishing every weekend, but my family ties

me down. I don’t want to tie you down,

but you do have responsibilities here at

home.

tie someone or something up 1. [with someone]

to keep someone busy or occupied. (Also

literal.) Sorry, this matter will tie me up

for about an hour. T The same matter will

tie up almost everyone in the office. 2.

[with something] to conclude and final-

ize something. (Informal.) T Let’s try to

tie up this deal by Thursday. We’ll man-

age to tie our business up by Wednesday

at the latest.

tie someone’s hands to prevent someone

from doing something. (Also literal. See

also have one’s hands tied.) I’d like to

help you, but my boss has tied my hands.

Please don’t tie my hands with unnec-

essary restrictions. I’d like the freedom to

do whatever is necessary.

tie someone (up) in knots to become anx-

ious or upset. (Informal.) John tied

himself in knots worrying about his wife

during the operation. This waiting and

worrying really ties me up in knots.

tie the knot to get married. (Informal.)

Well, I hear that you and John are going

to tie the knot. My parents tied the knot

almost forty years ago.

tie traffic up to cause road traffic to stop.

If you tie traffic up for too long, you’ll

get a traffic ticket. T Please don’t stop on

the roadway. It’ll tie up traffic.

tied down restricted by responsibilities.

have told you time and again: don’t put




(Also literal.)

I love my home, but

wet garbage in the trash can!




sometimes I don’t like being tied down.

I don’t feel tied down, even though I have

a lot of responsibility.

tied to one’s mother’s apron strings dom-

inated by one’s mother; dependent on

one’s mother. Tom is still tied to his

mother’s apron strings. Isn’t he a little

old to be tied to his mother’s apron strings?

tied up busy. (Also literal.) How long will

you be tied up? I will be tied up in a

meeting for an hour.

tight as a drum Go to (as) tight as a drum.

tight as a tick Go to (as) full as a tick.

tight as Dick’s hatband Go to (as) tight as

Dick’s hatband.

tighten one’s belt to manage to spend less

money; to use less of something.

Things are beginning to cost more and

more. It looks as if we’ll all have to tighten

our belts. Times are hard, and prices are

high. I can tighten my belt for only so long.

tightfisted (with money) and close-

fisted (with money) very stingy with

money. The manager is very closefisted

with expenditures. My parents are very

tightfisted with money.

till all hours (of the day and night) Go

to until all hours (of the day and night).

till the cows come home Go to (un)til the

cows come home.